Makeup Artist And Hairstylist Rob Harmon Shifts Gears Amid The Pandemic To Launch His Brand’s Face Wash For Free

Broadway went dark over five weeks ago. Bustling film and television sets in New York City have been dormant, too. The shutdowns have left countless actors and crew members, including hair and makeup artist Rob Harmon, who worked on “Wicked” and “Pose,” unemployed.

While Harmon can’t be behind the scenes of stage productions, he’s been focused on Magic Beauty, a direct-to-consumer beauty brand he started in 2013. He was on the verge of launching its fourth product, a face wash called The Magic Blast that’s been in development for four years, when everything came to a halt as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis forced him to rethink his approach. Harmon says, “Asking people to buy beauty products in the middle of all this terror and fear, I can’t do it.”

So, Harmon isn’t doing it. Instead, he’s offering a 4-oz. size of The Magic Blast for free with orders of The Magic Pads, the debut product of Magic Beauty that consists of 60 astringent pads retailing for $20. Beyond beauty consumers, Harmon thought about his theater colleagues and fellow New Yorkers in making the decision. He recounts questions zipped through his mind such as, “Will I be pleased with the roles myself and my company chose to play in this pandemic? Will I be pleased with my decision to diminish the launch and value of the launch, and the profits by not putting a price tag on it? Can I do this financially?”

With Magic Beauty Harmon’s only earnings generator at the moment, it’s a risky move to provide the face wash at no charge. But, in other ways, it’s risky to operate as if business is operating as usual. Harmon says, “How can I put this out into the world without alienating the public by seemingly ignoring our country’s financial wreckage? I cannot, and I will not.” He notes The Magic Blast isn’t free on Amazon. For every purchase through Magic Beauty’s website, the brand will also put $1 toward The Actors Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to delivering financial assistance, affordable housing, health care and insurance to the entertainment community.

“Right now, in all aspects of life, this is what is most important. We all do what we can, as people, as groups, organizations, clubs, and even as beauty companies,” says Harmon. “If we all do what we can, we will get through this together. Broadway was the first to go out of work, and my family there will be the last to go back. They need help. I can guarantee that we, together, will pay someone’s rent and help them through this pandemic, and this is my part.” To date, he discloses the economic fallout from the pandemic hasn’t caused Magic Beauty’s product sales to nosedive. “Is it at 100%? No, but they’re selling daily at a surprisingly steady rate with absolutely no advertising,” says Harmon. “They are definitely a staple for many people, which is why I want to do the gift with purchase. They’re already buying it, so I’m not asking them to do anything in addition.”

“If we all do what we can, we will get through this together.”

Harmon hopes the shared global experience of the pandemic will propel people to live simpler, cleaner lives. He originally created Magic Beauty and its first product, The Magic Pads, because he wanted that for himself. Harmon explains, “I’d struggled with adult acne my entire life. At the age of 29, I found a cheap pharmaceutical product that worked better than anything I’d ever seen in my life. The results were unreal, and my skin looked better than ever. The problem? The formula was disgusting. There were several ingredients that I just could not fathom putting on my face. I’m also lazy and not that much into grooming myself, when I spend my entire career grooming other people.”

Magic Beauty’s two other products are collaborations. The brand teamed up with actress Sheryl Lee Ralph on a makeup applicator released in 2017 and Bianca Del Rio, a popular performance artist and winner of the sixth season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” on a makeup remover introduced in 2018. Del Rio pitched the idea of the makeup remover to Harmon during a vacation with Harmon to Bali.

The celebrity elements of Magic Beauty’s partnerships boosted the brand tremendously, and Harmon was excited to follow up on its collaborations and continue to build the brand with The Magic Blast. The cruelty-free face wash excludes fragrances, preservatives, sulfates and petrochemicals. Its formula contains the key ingredients glycolic acid, hyaluronic acid, organic willow bark extract and vitamin E. Harmon points out it’s great for shaving as well as cleansing.

Although he spent years creating the face wash and had planned to launch it in a customary fashion, Harmon emphasizes it’s crucial to be nimble as an entrepreneur and feels giving the product away for free is the right thing to do. “The name of every game in business is pivot,” he says. “The ones who get stuck in business are the ones who refuse or panic under pivot circumstances.” Many beauty brands have been adjusting to the new reality by tweaking or delaying their launches. Last month, for example, sweat product brand Hiki rolled out its products free to hospital and medical facility workers with a suggested contribution of $2.50, and to regular customers in exchange for a social media message of honesty and compassion.

Harmon is optimistic the beauty industry will emerge better after the pandemic. “I truly believe we will get through this,” he says. “We have all been hurt by this. We can all be poor together. New Yorkers are so good at being poor, am I right?! I think this is a time to live as simply as possible, and that is something I can help with.”